Why do I have a flashing brake light on the dash?

[motoswami]

I haven't ridden my 2020 F3-Limited all winter, and I'm hoping something I'm forgetting is causing this symptom.

Turned on the key and pressed the mode button to clear the "Read the Manual" warning; I cranked the engine and pressed the parking brake release, fully expecting the red "brake on" light to go off. Instead, even though the brake released in response to the button being pressed, the brake light in the gauge went to flashing mode.

I pushed on the garage floor to ascertain the brake was actually off and the bike rolled freely.

Shifting into 1st, the Spyder eased forward as expected; shifting into neutral and then reverse, everything acted normally.

Brake light is still flashing.

I took one quick turn around the cul-de-sac where I live and nothing seemed amiss. I stopped and backed into the garage. Spotting the bike where I wanted it, I pressed the parking brake button, and the parking brake engaged.
However, the brake-on redlight remained in flashing mode, and continued to flash after turning off the ignition until other lights cycled off.

Any ideas whazzup?

 

[Peter Aawen]

Have you checked to make sure that your Brake Master Cylinder is full? Even just a tiny amount down can result in this warning, so it might pay just to add a smidge of fresh brake fluid anyway, maybe even as much as a teaspoon full?! That might just fix the Brake Warning you're getting; if not, it's probably time to start searching for & looking at the threads & info on re-setting the Brake Pressure micro-switch. :dontknow:

Good Luck. :cheers:

 

[trikermutha]

Maybe faulty brake switch or needs adjustment.

Since its pretty new take it in for warranty

Have you jacked it up over the winter by chance??

 

[Flamewinger]

The parking brake is separate from the main brakes. It’s a cable and motor driven system with battery power. Check the battery and it’s connections. Even a new one can go bad. Then, since it’s probably still under warranty, take it to a dealer.

 

[dmerpaw]

Have you checked to make sure that your Brake Master Cylinder is full? Even just a tiny amount down can result in this warning, so it might pay just to add a smidge of fresh brake fluid anyway, maybe even as much as a teaspoon full?! That might just fix the Brake Warning you're getting; if not, it's probably time to start searching for & looking at the threads & info on re-setting the Brake Pressure micro-switch. :dontknow:

Good Luck. :cheers:

Peter's suggestion of adding just a bit of brake fluid is what cleared my warning when I had the same issues on my 2012 RTL.

 

[gkamer]

I haven't ridden my 2020 F3-Limited all winter, and I'm hoping something I'm forgetting is causing this symptom.

Turned on the key and pressed the mode button to clear the "Read the Manual" warning; I cranked the engine and pressed the parking brake release, fully expecting the red "brake on" light to go off. Instead, even though the brake released in response to the button being pressed, the brake light in the gauge went to flashing mode.

Any ideas whazzup?

I had that happen to my 2018 once while out of a ride. Stopped for fuel and when we got read to leave released the brake but the brake light kept flashing. I had no idea why it was happening, but bike seemed to be running normally so we pressed on. The light continued flashing. On our next rest break we pulled over and turned our bikes off. I pulled the key and wandered around for a bit. When we got ready to leave, fired up the bike and the light stopped flashing.

Hasn't done it since and no idea why it did it that time. Maybe those pesky gremlins were up to mischief.

 

[motoswami]

I had that happen to my 2018 once while out of a ride. Stopped for fuel and when we got read to leave released the brake but the brake light kept flashing. I had no idea why it was happening, but bike seemed to be running normally so we pressed on. The light continued flashing. On our next rest break we pulled over and turned our bikes off. I pulled the key and wandered around for a bit. When we got ready to leave, fired up the bike and the light stopped flashing.

Hasn't done it since and no idea why it did it that time. Maybe those pesky gremlins were up to mischief.

Could well be just Gremlins. After posting the original post, I went back to the garage and carefully went through the starting procedure and the flashing brake light never re-appeared. I will check the fluid level just to make sure, but fingers crossed it won't repeat.

Thanks for all the quick and helpful suggestions.

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Could well be just Gremlins. After posting the original post, I went back to the garage and carefully went through the starting procedure and the flashing brake light never re-appeared. I will check the fluid level just to make sure, but fingers crossed it won't repeat.

Thanks for all the quick and helpful suggestions.

Quite often just removing the Key away from the ignition switch, will allow a complete re-boot , and code will dis-appear ..... Mike :thumbup:

 

[LongIsland]

Had the same thing and added a cap full or 2 of brake fluid and no more flashing message.

 

[Lew L]

.

As the brake pads wear the fluid level in the reservoir goes down a bit. The :spyder2: is VERY sensitive to the brake fluid level so a little bit will bring it up to the required level and no more flashing brake light.
Lew L

 

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

Could well be just Gremlins. After posting the original post, I went back to the garage and carefully went through the starting procedure and the flashing brake light never re-appeared. I will check the fluid level just to make sure, but fingers crossed it won't repeat.

Thanks for all the quick and helpful suggestions.

Based on what I find in the 2014 RT service manual I think you have a flakey PARKING BRAKE LIGHT SWITCH. It's a microswitch that rides on the parking brake pulley. I think it may be sticking. Check it out.

 

[Allen42]

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but something similar has happened to me three times now in the past 6 weeks, except my 2019 RTL will not start when it happens.


Steps:

Get on, put in key, turn to on, press mode.

The parking indicator starts flashing, and bike will not start.

Turn off, remove key, wait for flashing to stop (15-30 seconds).

Reinsert key and go through startup, and everything works fine.

The first two times this happened were after work was done on the bike, so I assumed that maybe something in the shutdown procedure caused it, such as leaving it in neutral or something.

However, it happened again this morning after a normal stop, and I'm pretty sure I did my regular shutdown.

So do we suspect fluid level, the sensor switch, or procedural problem?

 

[Snoking1127]

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but something similar has happened to me three times now in the past 6 weeks, except my 2019 RTL will not start when it happens.


Steps:

Get on, put in key, turn to on, press mode.

The parking indicator starts flashing, and bike will not start.

Turn off, remove key, wait for flashing to stop (15-30 seconds).

Reinsert key and go through startup, and everything works fine.

The first two times this happened were after work was done on the bike, so I assumed that maybe something in the shutdown procedure caused it, such as leaving it in neutral or something.

However, it happened again this morning after a normal stop, and I'm pretty sure I did my regular shutdown.

So do we suspect fluid level, the sensor switch, or procedural problem?

High lighted item is easy to check and remedy!

 

[Bfromla]

Default first step: check battery clean & tight connections. Charged & load testing is additional step at later point depending codes & recurrence

 

[Allen42]

Have you checked to make sure that your Brake Master Cylinder is full? Even just a tiny amount down can result in this warning, so it might pay just to add a smidge of fresh brake fluid anyway, maybe even as much as a teaspoon full?! That might just fix the Brake Warning you're getting; if not, it's probably time to start searching for & looking at the threads & info on re-setting the Brake Pressure micro-switch. :dontknow:

Good Luck. :cheers:

Just went and checked... rear chamber is about 3mm OVER max, and front one is about 1 mm over. Could that cause it? The distance between min and max is quite large... should I take some out and get it about midway between the lines?

 

[Allen42]

Default first step: check battery clean & tight connections. Charged & load testing is additional step at later point depending codes & recurrence

For flashing brake light? There are no codes or any other battery symptoms. Battery is only 3-4 months old, but I am trying a "cheap" Amazon gel battery. (And no, this didn't start as soon as I put the battery in.)

The first time this happened was after my video camera system was installed by a shop mid March. Then it happened again after I had put the bike in neutral and manually moved it in my garage about two weeks ago. Then today after getting out of a 45 minute Dr appointment.

 

[Peter Aawen]

Just went and checked... rear chamber is about 3mm OVER max, and front one is about 1 mm over. Could that cause it? The distance between min and max is quite large... should I take some out and get it about midway between the lines?

NO! But you might try using a clean probe of some sort to check that the floats, which are actually cylinders with a wedge-shaped top, aren't turned enough that despite the fluid level being high enough, the float/s isn't/aren't rising up enough to indicate that, cos the high side of the wedge on top is being caught under the edge of the fill tube?! :dontknow: Even if it's not that, it's better that your brake fluid is slightly overfull than even spot on, as we know from experience that some angles can make a 'full brake reservoir' still send a 'low level' warning, and that occurs way less often if your reservoir level is juust a touch high! Mind you, the wedged top thing is not all that likely, but I have seen it happen; and a few pokes with a clean probe to let the floats spin back into their correct orientation generally fixes those particular problems. :thumbup:

If it's not that, then you're most likely looking at those aforementioned micro-switch problems &/or a brake/tail-light not working properly; or possibly it's just a weak battery/battery connection causing the possibly dodgy/spurious messages that you're getting because there's just not enough quality power available at the particular moment one of the computers happens to be looking at the brakes for some reason?! Poor power supply; dodgy response to a computer; warning light on the dash; bike won't start; nothing else works!! :banghead: And you did say that all this started just after you added yet another power load onto the battery - have you tried disconnecting the video camera for a day or two to see if that makes any difference?? :dontknow:

Still, even brand new supposedly fully charged batteries can cause this sort of problem, especially if the terminals aren't clean & tight, &/or the earth connections on the other end aren't making a good connection! I had one where the battery lead to the lug on the end had been poorly connected at the factory - the lug was tightly secured onto a bright clean patch of metal on the frame, but the cable had a poor connection where it was inserted into the lug! :cus: I can tell you that wasn't an easy one to find, but it was a Battery/Earth connection issue, and not any of the other things the computers were identifying by their various codes!!

And I hafta ask, is your "..."cheap" Amazon gel battery..." rated at 350 cca with 21 a/h over 12 hrs MINIMUM, and has it been fully charged lately, by a proper charger, not just by a 'tender'?? :dontknow: These Spyder things of ours are EXTREMELY Power Hungry, and while other vehicles might get away with a slightly less capable battery/power supply, these WON'T! :lecturef_smilie: In fact, if your battery load tests at LESS than 12 volts EVER, then there's a good chance you'll have spurious 'errors' popping up that cause all sorts of grief & concern, UNTIL you replace the battery with a good, well charged battery with an appropriate spec level!! And beware, even brand new batteries can fail! :lecturef_smilie:

 

[Bfromla]

Just went and checked... rear chamber is about 3mm OVER max, and front one is about 1 mm over. Could that cause it? The distance between min and max is quite large... should I take some out and get it about midway between the lines?

For flashing brake light? There are no codes or any other battery symptoms. Battery is only 3-4 months old, but I am trying a "cheap" Amazon gel battery. (And no, this didn't start as soon as I put the battery in.)

The first time this happened was after my video camera system was installed by a shop mid March. Then it happened again after I had put the bike in neutral and manually moved it in my garage about two weeks ago. Then today after getting out of a 45 minute Dr appointment.

Battery, yes! Just a default check item. Like pushing the mode button...

Adding star washers



between the battery & terminals can help, does not guarantee.

After checking brake fluid level, check to see if the float sensors are stuck - Caution - brake fluid is caustic! But you should be able to push down each float & see how they resurface. Sensors do go bad too.

How did the shop install that camera? Maybe they tapped into power somewhere causing feedback &/or CanBus issues? (Underrating is: most are suppose have independent keyed power connections!)

 

[Allen42]

I also had Spyderpop’s 3rd brake light added to my trunk the same weekend as the video system. Now there are way too many variables in play. It’s too intermittent to try to diagnose. Next time it happens I will try to pull codes.

Crap.

 

[Peter Aawen]

I also had Spyderpop’s 3rd brake light added to my trunk the same weekend as the video system. Now there are way too many variables in play. It’s too intermittent to try to diagnose. Next time it happens I will try to pull codes.

Crap.

Just disconnect one of the 'add-ons' at a time, and see what happens. :dontknow:

Mind you, now that you've told us about that 3rd Brake Light, even tho they're a pretty good quality item that usually works well without issues IF they're installed correctly & there's nothing already a bit dodgy in the rest of the Braking System &/or Power Supply, can you guess where MY money would be going??

Check out those 'IF' bits! :thumbup: